News, photography Intertwined

With a growing demand for visuals among news consumers, properly engaging photojournalists at media houses and understanding the strength of photography is essential, said speakers at a discussion yesterday.

The event was organised by Sampadak Parishad (Editors' Council) and Drik.

They said photojournalists have to be equipped with sound knowledge and technical abilities for this purpose, while newsroom leaders need to understand the importance of photographs.

The discussion, held at the capital's DrikPath Bhobon, was part of the World Press Photo Exhibition-2022. Hosted by Drik, the exhibition started on Friday and will continue till November 21.

On its world tour, the exhibition showcases photo stories from the 65th annual World Press Photo Contest, recognising and celebrating the best photojournalism and documentary photography produced over the last year from around the world.

Addressing the discussion, Drik founder and globally acclaimed photographer Shahidul Alam said there was a time when a big gap between text and photography in terms of publicity was apparent.

"Thanks to the advancement of internet-providing services with better bandwidth, photographs can now be shared rapidly from one destination to another, reducing the gap significantly," he said.

"Photography is a much more public form of engagement than the other forms of media that we have. It will be a waste of opportunity if photography is overlooked, as it is much more important for even the survival of newspapers," he added.

Mahfuz Anam, president of Editors' Council and editor-publisher of The Daily Star, said photojournalism is an essential element of journalism.

"We must include the importance of photojournalism in our thinking," he said.

"There was a time when in newsrooms, photojournalists' viewpoints would be ignored, but such practices have changed now. Photojournalists are now a crucial part of the decision-making process," he added.

Mahfuz Anam said the Editors' Council will take more initiatives in the future to engage photojournalists in debates and discussions.

Joumana El Zein Khoury, executive director of World Press Photo Foundation, said images in their exhibitions are seen by over four million people around the world.

"There is a lot of interest in photojournalism. People come and visit the exhibitions to understand what happened across the world in a year. That is something that I find quite appealing," Joumana said

Speaking at the discussion, New Age Editor Nurul Kabir referred to Rashid Talukder's iconic capture of a street child leading a procession during the mass upsurge of 1969 and said such a photograph can represent a generation.

"As we see the photo, we can contextualise the time," he said.

Kabir said photojournalists have to take the challenge and fight for their photographs to go on print since an editor has to work thinking of various circumstances.

"For a photo to be published in a newspaper, only aesthetic value is not sufficient but it has to be worthy of news," he added.

Better institutional education and training for photojournalists are required to make further progress in the field of photojournalism, said Sajjad Sharif, managing editor of Prothom Alo.

Bonik Barta Editor Dewan Hanif Mahmud, also general secretary of Editors' Council, said passion for photography and understanding the context of an event is important to capture the best moment.

Photojournalists face various challenges during their duty. Newsroom leaders need to guide photojournalists to get the best output, said Sk Enamul Haq, chief photographer of The Daily Star.

Syed Zakir Hossain, head of photography at Prothom Alo, said photojournalists need to undergo institutional training to imrpove their skills.

Abu Sayeed Asiful Islam, associate editor, Dhaka Tribune; Sazzad Hossain, news editor, Daily Ittefaq; and Md Shahabuddin, joint news editor, Daily Karatoa, spoke at the discussion among others.